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@moth
Am a huge fan of Sturmey Archer 3 speeds. For city riding, it's not about how many gears, it's the range they cover and how quickly and easily you can change between them. Twist grips with 5 or 8 clicks to get from one end to the other do not appeal, I like the old SA trigger lever which i mount under the bars where i can flick it with my thumb. An AW hub gives ratios of 3/4:direct drive:4/3. I like direct drive around 67 gear inches, giving 50 and 90 with the gears.
The transitions aren't smooth, but they don't have to be to work well. Unlike a deraileur you don't have to keep pedalling lightly forwards, wondering when it's going to change. With practice, you can make a hub gear change at exactly the point in the pedal stroke you want it to. A moment of back-pedal (or just zero pressure) and you can get back to putting full power down.
I haven't ridden any shimano hubs so i don't really know about them. I think their fancy roller clutches and change mechanism allows you to keep pedalling forwards while changing, but to me that's poor technique.
My experience with coaster brakes is limited to a brief go on mmccarthy's cruiser. You get enough braking force to lock up the back wheel, but to you need to get your feet into a comfortable place to back-pedal, so transitions from accelerating to braking might sometimes be awkward. I'd worry about heat dissipation on big hills too.